Jewish Stores Can Be Open Sunday if Closed Saturday, N. Y. Judge Rules

May 23, 1958

NEW YORK (May. 22)

A New York judge made it clear today that Jews have a right to keep their businesses open on Saturday if they prove that they are closed on Saturday for religious reasons. He dismissed the 11th summons for Sunday law violation given to a Jew who keeps his launderette open on Sunday but closed on Saturday.

The judge, George S. Rader, told the policeman who served the Jew with the summons that he would notify his commanding officer that a Jew has a right to keep his business open on Sunday as long as he keeps it closed on Saturday. He asked the officer whether the launderette neighborhood was predominantly Jewish and whether the fact that it was open on Sundays bothered nearby residents. When the officer said the neighborhood was Jewish and that there had been no complaints, the judge dismissed the charge.

Section 2144 of the New York City Penal Code permits work on Sunday for those who observe another day as the Sabbath, but the burden of proof rests on the individual.